Thomas Jefferson begins the Declaration of Independence with a list of basic human rights to convince the king to change his policies to show that England has violated these rights. The Declaration of Independence shows to the world that the United States of America was now an independent country. Thomas Jefferson describes all the offenses that England allegedly committed against the colonist. This makes people feel angry at England. He was trying to persuade people the public that the British government deserved to be overthrown because it was no protecting the people and their God-given rights.